CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Leisure

Wildlife highlight of the day

(7221 posts)

  1. chdot
    Admin

    The Covid-19 lockdown has produced the quietest year for the world’s oceans in recent memory, according to a group of scientists working on a global map of underwater soundscapes.

    Noise pollution from ship engines, trawling activities, oil platforms, subsea mining and other human sources declined significantly last spring, say the researchers, who are part of a collaborative network of 231 non-military hydrophones.

    They believe the relative hush can provide valuable comparative data for an unplanned experiment in how sound affects whales, coral and other marine species.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/17/covid-pandemic-made-2020-the-year-of-the-quiet-ocean-say-scientists

    Posted 3 years ago #
  2. splitshift
    Member

    Hi everyone , been out n about quite a lot recently , today I heard what I think was a woodpecker ? Near Connie point !
    Scott

    Posted 3 years ago #
  3. chdot
    Admin

    “I heard what I think was a woodpecker“

    You mean the drumming of the beak?

    Quite likely.

    Posted 3 years ago #
  4. chdot
    Admin

    Though

    [+] Embed the video | Video DownloadGet the Video Plugin

    Posted 3 years ago #
  5. splitshift
    Member

    That , chdot was exactly the noise I heard, it was also crombie point !! I’ll look into that Corvid communication !!

    Posted 3 years ago #
  6. wingpig
    Member

    Potential badger yesterday evening. Correct shape and movement but didn't see its face, so it could have been a cat walking funny.

    Posted 3 years ago #
  7. gembo
    Member

    Cat walking funny is small,badger

    Local Piskie Vicar out here was cyclin* home the top Harlaw road and a badger jumped in between his bars. Peed a lot I. Believe.

    Someth8ng happens when you are out on the road with Him, he says Hardly a badger

    Posted 3 years ago #
  8. SRD
    Moderator

    wee ducklings jumping from top of canal wall onto towpath, then into canal at peak commuter time this morning. interesting to see which folks stopped and watched and which just went on by. two were struggling to find their way to the canal, so a cargo bike mum stopped and shepherded them in. Bloke with dog stayed until the very last one jumped and made sure it was reunited with mummy duck (who was mostly swimming around, not showing much concern).

    Posted 3 years ago #
  9. gembo
    Member

    Massive buzzard over the North Esk reservoir last even8ng pretending to be the first Red Kite not to get shot or poisoned on the grouse moor. For all there majesty Red Kites have small talons and tend to scavenge. So no threat to grouse but will take bait the gamekeepers set?

    Was a glorious evening to attempt my own personal North West passage linking West Kip to Listonshiels. Possibly better as a walk than a cycle to be sure.

    Posted 3 years ago #
  10. Frenchy
    Member

    Badger cub sticking its face out of the bushes along the Gilmerton-Shawfair cycle path.

    Dog was muy emocianda.

    Posted 3 years ago #
  11. ejstubbs
    Member

    Large group of sand martins hawking for insects over the Tweed, shortly before it makes a ~90° bend from flowing east to roughly north, about half a k short of the bridge at the confluence with the Manor Water. The bank on the north side there is composed of sand and rubble, about 6ft high, and there were birds already occupying holes in same.

    House martins over the river nearer to Peebles, with possibly the odd swallow amongst.

    Below Neidpath Castle and onwards in to town: many groups of young people recently let out of school taking their leisure in the sunshine by, in and on the river. Do they count as wildlife?

    Posted 3 years ago #
  12. Rosie
    Member

    Last weekend at Penicuik House a crow chasing off a buzzard repeatedly. A Spitfire vibe from the crow.

    Posted 3 years ago #
  13. ejstubbs
    Member

    That reminds me of last Friday at Gullane, when we witnessed a crow taking on two herring gulls that were trying to steal some food it had found. Watching those three going at it was like a dogfight from "Battle of Britain". At one point the crow was closing in on the tail of gull #1 when gull #2 came out of its six and nearly took a chunk out of its tail feathers. The crow spotted it at the last second and did a sort of diving half-roll to evade the wingman's attack. Spectacular stuff, and we weren't the only folks on the beach ooh-ing and aah-ing at their antics.

    The crow came out on top in the end, successfully defending its lunch and sending the gulls slinking off to bob about in the surf.

    Posted 3 years ago #
  14. Rosie
    Member

    @ejstubbs

    "Flying the black flag of himself."

    Ted Hughes

    Posted 3 years ago #
  15. chdot
    Admin

  16. chdot
    Admin

    Highlight is the photo!

    https://twitter.com/lukasz_pulawski/status/1386748908974522374

    Posted 3 years ago #
  17. gembo
    Member

    Soaked deer at Thriepmuir then two fabulous hares running down the road. Several hundred metres then also in the field

    I love a hare. Two hares nearly made me fall off bike

    Posted 3 years ago #
  18. chdot
    Admin

    And three hares?

    Posted 3 years ago #
  19. ejstubbs
    Member

    Two gentleman coshie-doos pursuing two ladies around the lawn, completely oblivious to the gentleman blackbird trying to forage for its lunch, causing it to keep having to hop out of the way of the Columba palumbus juggernauts. Blackbird starting to look a trifle annoyed!

    Going back 24 hours: spotted three greenfinches on my bird feeder yesterday morning (coincidentally, while I was dialled in to a BTO online training class). Hadn't seen greenfinches in our garden for months prior to that.

    Posted 3 years ago #
  20. gembo
    Member

    Sorry I should just point out that although I love hares. I really hate Hartley.

    Also Cooshie or Cushie or Cushy

    Doos

    Posted 3 years ago #
  21. ejstubbs
    Member

    Sorry, t'was meant to be cooshie. Apologies for the typo: spell checker doesn't recognise any of the acceptable variants so I ignored the dotted red underline, not noticing that I actually had spelled it wrong...

    Just had a rather pretty almost pure white (leucistic?) feral pigeon taking a drink from our garden pond. Don't recall seeing that one before.

    Posted 3 years ago #
  22. chdot
    Admin

  23. chdot
    Admin

    Going out in teams at night, volunteers such as Alex go out with buckets and torches to collect the toads to ensure they are not ‘smooshed’ by motorists, cyclists or pedestrians.

    https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/lifestyle/outdoors/ten-year-old-toad-saver-for-five-years-alex-jamie-perdue-has-been-saving-east-lothians-toads-newts-and-frogs-3232770

    Posted 3 years ago #
  24. ejstubbs
    Member

    Handsome looking barn owl perched on a fencepost alongside the A701 at 10:20am today. Seemed very interested in the strip of ungrazed grass between the roadside fence and the field fence running parallel to it about 10ft away. More interested in that than in us stopping to look at it. Possibly a nest nearby with female brooding eggs and male hunting for the both of them - hence the rather unusual hour?

    Posted 3 years ago #
  25. fimm
    Member

    Cygnets on Craiglockhart Pond.

    Also swallows or swifts in various places.

    Posted 3 years ago #
  26. chdot
    Admin

  27. Frenchy
    Member

    The Ratho family of swans (2 adults, 5 cygnets) appears to have acquired a pet duck.

    Posted 3 years ago #
  28. jdanielp
    Member

    Apologies for the EEN link and don't fall for the "amazing footage" clickbait since it is entirely uneventful, but do be aware of the proliferation of otters across Edinburgh.

    https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/people/wardie-avenue-watch-amazing-footage-as-animal-rescue-officers-try-to-coax-otter-from-under-car-in-edinburgh-garden-3241275

    Posted 3 years ago #
  29. nevelbell
    Member

    A fox cub on the path near Cafe Milk, thought it was a kitten.

    Posted 3 years ago #
  30. wingpig
    Member

    Fox behind the giant Tesco in Musselburgh, bats on the Innocent and bats on the Restalrig path last night.

    Posted 3 years ago #

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